Sleeping Beauty: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed...

England’s Royal Ballet is celebrating its 75th anniversary in style. The company’s birthday present is a new production of Sleeping Beauty. Created in 1890 by two geniuses – Russian composer Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky and French choreographer Marius Petipa, this ballet has an important place in the Royal Ballet’s history.

On February 20, 1946, the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (the former name of the Royal Ballet before it acquired the Royal Charter in 1956) reopened London’s Royal Opera House with Sleeping Beauty. Nineteen-year-old prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn danced Princess Aurora in front of the Royal Family and ordinary citizens of England in a new production created by the company’s founder Ninnete de Valois and Russian émigré Nicolas Sergeyev (who managed to rescue from Bolshevik Russia original notes of Petipa’s choreography.) This grand and lavish ballet designed by Oliver Messel meant a lot for a nation exhausted by six years of war. It was a symbol of a revival and a new life. Three years later, the young British troupe took Sleeping Beauty on its first tour to America. The overwhelming success of the ballet brought the company immediate acclaim and made Margot Fonteyn an international star. This Royal Beauty for years defined the ultimate classicism in ballet.



In 1994 and 2003 the company made two unsuccessful efforts to recreate the famous ballet. Both productions were flawed and therefore short-lived. This spring, in a third attempt, the Royal Ballet shows off its new Beauty. On May 15 London’s Covent Garden raised its curtain to a revival of the 1946 production of this timeless Russian classic. Artistic Director Monica Masson chose to go back to the company’s first staging and give it a modern facelift. Dance designer Peter Farmer recreated Oliver Messel’s original decorations. He completely revamped almost all 400 costumes and sets for Act II. The choreography of the new production is based on Petipa’s score, with additional dances created by De Valois, Frederick Ashton, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Critics have agreed that the new Royal Beauty was awoken with a triumph. The Times was “happy to report that the magic is back. This new production is an enchanting fairytale fantasy, a shining beacon for classicism that restores Beauty to its rightful place at the heart of the repertoire… The choreography … wears its Russian heritage with pride: exquisitely positioned, handsomely grand and filled with bursts of virtuosic sparkle. Tchaikovsky's score, under Valery Ovsyanikov's exciting conducting, soars.” (Debra Crane, The Sleeping Beauty, May 17)

“The dancing... on Monday night was superb,” wrote The Guardian. “Laura Morera, Lauren Cuthbertson and Marianela Nunez were crisply witty and luscious Fairies, while Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg made you believe in the divine right of ballet royalty.” (Judith Mackrell, Sleeping Beauty, May 17)

It was a safe bet to restore and polish a masterpiece so it would shine and be an eye-pleaser. Lessons were learned from costly mistakes made in two previous productions. This time, the company’s management opted for “Better safe than sorry” staging. One could argue that choosing the old familiar path is an ultimate sacrifice of innovation and artistic aspiration for the cozy safety of tried and true. And I agree with that. At the same time I do believe that ‘digitally remastered’ classics will always find their grateful audience.

The first performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House is on June 22 at 7:30 pm, with Alina Cojocaru as Princess Aurora and Johan Kobborg as Prince Florimund.

The Stars of White Nights

As a part of the XIV International Arts Festival “Stars of the White Nights” currently underway in St. Petersburg, the Mariinsky Ballet Company paid tribute to its the most famous alumnus – one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century and St. Petersburg native – George Balanchine. For decades Balanchine’s name had been blacklisted in Russia. Only in late 1980s did the Mariinsky Ballet begin exploring his choreographic heritage and learning to dance a la Balanchine, mastering his classical steps and distinct movement vocabulary. The all-Balanchine program presented on May 23 at the Mariinsky Theater included three ballets from three different creative periods of the choreographer: The Serenade (1935), La Valse (1951) and Ballet Imperial (1941).



Serenade is a music-inspired ballet set to the Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra. This is the first ballet Balanchine created in America and still one of his most popular and widely performed works. Pure dance without a storyline it allows the audience to create its own interpretation of what happens on stage. Watching the simple, very classical choreography, I felt like seeing a presentation of young ballerinas demonstrating their dancing talents. The opening reveals seventeen ballerinas in light blue long tulle frocks standing against a blue background with dimmed light creating the atmosphere of mystery and tranquility. This is one of the most beautiful scenes choreographed by Balanchine for the corps de ballet. The performance of soloists Xenia Ostreikovskay, Yekaterina Osmolkina, and Sofia Gumerova was most impressive. The male soloists Denis Firsov and Sergei Popov were technically impeccable turning, supporting, lifting, and carrying ballerinas about the stage. But the real star was the Mariinsky’s corps de ballet demonstrating unity of movements, expressiveness, artistry, and absolutely flawless technique.

Balanchine’s La Valse is more than just a dance: it’s a spectacle, it’s a ballroom drama. The first part of the ballet is set to the Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales (which were originally designed to become the ballet Adelaïde) with the first waltz played as an overture.



Each of the following waltzes is danced by a formally dressed couple or a group of soloists. The ballerinas are wearing long Romantic red and black skirts with silver tulle while their partners were all in black (costumes designed by frequent Balanchine collaborator Barbara Karinska). A couple (Daria Pavlenko, Ilya Kuznetsov) finds happiness with each other in a waltz until an outsider (a figure invoking Death) intrudes, charming, seducing, misguiding the girl into a final waltz that costs her life. The corps de ballet was superb in this magnificent dramatic spectacle. Daria Pavlenko, one of the company’s truly outstanding principals, danced with a gentle, ethereal grace. (She can be seen in Washington dancing Giselle at the Kennedy Center on June 16.)

Set to Tchaikovsky’s second Piano Concerto and coming after the darkness of La Valse, Ballet Imperial is a relief and lifts the spirits. This homage to the Imperial St. Petersburg and its Grand Imperial Ballet presents Balanchine’s choreography at its best.



The company’s star Uliana Lopatkina danced the leading role of the Queen while Irina Golub was the Crown Princess. Watching Lopatkina dance effortlessly, it was hard to believe that she was dealing with the most challenging and technically demanding choreography in Balanchine’s repertory. The ensemble performed brilliantly, proving time and again what the Mariinsky Ballet is rightly famous for – its Grand Imperial Corps de Ballet.



This month the Kirov (Mariinsky) Ballet is coming to Washington, D.C. where it will present a program titled “William Forsythe Masterworks” (June 13 – 15) and the ever popular Giselle (June 16 - 18) at the Kennedy Center Opera House.